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Trying to share highlights of what we can confidently call the world's wowiest, star-attract-iest pop culture convention can be like trying to recommend a movie to a person you just met. You'll eventually land on something they like, and probably sooner than later, but it is best to just hand them the theater schedule and get out of their way.

Here are a few things we like about the little shindig at the San Diego Convention Center.

1. Star sightings. Not at the panels. We rode an elevator with Ray Bradbury. Ray to the Bradbury. Were you on the elevator with us? Did you nearly lose your head in quiet, brain-twirly excitement? Hoo boy.

2. The combo costumes. Anyone can show as an elf (props, elves; we know you put your time in). But how about the Elvis-Stormtrooper guy? Ingenious. Inweird. And Inalotofotherstuff. Amazing. We also love the family costuming (see above). The family that costumes together is awesome together.

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3. The homemade comics on view in Artists Alley. "Homemade" isn't pejorative here. It's loving. And we recommend you love on these artists who are trying to break in to the biz.

5. Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio's MCing duties at the Saturday night Masquerade. The get-ups are perfectly outlandish, too. Sometimes the act and the costume don't particularly mesh, and we love the performer all the more for it.

6. The company selling the Lovecraft merch. Sure, a lot of current artists and movies and books have booths, but we like to see stuff inspired by authors who left us decades ago. It truly goes to show that Comic-Con has some mega-huge-wide-reach.

8. The swag comb-through. It always cheers us to see tons of people sacked out while they paw through their nine different bags. The day people aren't combing through their strange and free swag is not a day that'll be at Comic-Con.

10. The t-shirts that don't just tout a property, like say "Army of Darkness," but rather call-out to something within the movie, like S-Mart. That's inside. And maybe that's what we like about the convention most. Everyone's inside, regardless of what they fancy.